The Color of Victory Is Red, Scientists Say

The Color of Victory Is Red, Scientists Say

By JOHN SCHWARTZ
Published: May 18, 2005
Wearing red increases the chance of victory in sports, say British researchers who clearly do not follow the Cincinnati Reds.

"Across a range of sports, we find that wearing red is consistently associated with a higher probability of winning," wrote Dr. Russell Hill and Dr. Robert Barton, researchers in evolutionary anthropology at the University of Durham, in a paper that will appear on Thursday in the journal Nature.

The research began a year ago, Dr. Barton said in an interview, on a hunch based on observations in the animal kingdom, where red coloration is often associated with male dominance. Zebra finches that have been fitted with red leg bands, for example, tend to become dominant, while those given blue bands are more submissive. In humans, anger reddens the face, so the color may send subtle signals of fierceness.

The two researchers studied results of the 2004 Summer Olympics to eliminate the possibility of a home team advantage, and found that contestants in tae kwan do, boxing and wrestling were issued red or blue protective gear at random. "It's almost as if somebody had designed an experiment for us," Dr. Barton said.

Dr. Hill said the evidence of a beneficial effect emerged, with red-wearing contenders winning 6 out of 10 bouts in close matches. "Even we were surprised at how consistently the results have been coming out across the range of sports we have looked at," he said. They have taken a preliminary look at soccer as well, and found that in the Euro 2004 international soccer tournaments, the five teams that wore predominantly red shirts did better.

This does not mean that a bad team can reverse its fortunes by wearing red, Dr. Barton said. The research applies only to competitors who are closely matched.

"Unfortunately, if you're hopeless," he said, "then wearing red isn't going to make you start winning." (And when both teams wear red, as in last year's World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals, all bets are off.)

The researchers suggested that their work might help to explain the fashion statement made by executives and politicians who wear bright red "power" ties, but they sounded bemused when asked whether their work could shed light on the phenomenon of Republican "red states" and Democratic "blue states." Still, Dr. Hill noted that on British electoral maps, red is the Labor Party's color. And like the Republican Party in the United States, Labor is on a winning streak.

A consultant who advises corporate clients on the use of color applauded the report. "Red is the color of fire and blood," said the consultant, Jill Morton, chief executive of Colorcom, a company based in Hawaii. "Red speaks of extremes - heat, excitement, bellicosity, passion, intensity - and is perhaps the most powerful color of the spectrum."

In London, a representative of William Hill, a leading betting company, took the opposite view, calling the study "absolute rubbish."

"There is no such thing as equally matched opponents in any human activitity," and too many individual factors to pronounce a trait like color decisive, said the representative, Graham Sharpe, in an e-mail interview.

"Anyone who disagrees with us should immediately start betting according to this report's conclusion," he wrote. "They may be able to leave us 'red'-faced, but I doubt it!"

Dr. Barton acknowledged that the work might not hold up under further analysis. "All scientific results are a bit provisional, of course," he said.


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/18/science/18cnd-red.html?hp

 

Great teams that don't wear any red (and never have)

New York Yankees

Boston Celtics

 

[revisits the pain]

Because North Carolina State wore red also.